Marc Stein first reported the news, saying Kidd has convinced Mikhail Prokhorov and his advisers to hire him as the Nets head coach. Peter Vecsey quickly tweeted that the Nets had informed Brian Shaw that they have chosen Kidd.

Deron Williams was the first Nets player to congratulate Kidd on his hiring.

The deal will be for three years and an undisclosed amount of money, a league source familiar with the negotiations tells NetsDaily. A formal announcement and a press conference has been called for 2 p.m. Thursday.

Mannix reports that at least one and possibly two former head coaches will join Kidd on the bench. Lawrence Frank has been rumored as the most likely assistant. Other names that have been mentioned are: Tim Grgurich, the veteran skills coach, and Alvin Gentry, the former head coach at Phoenix.

In the official announcement of his hiring, Kidd said, "This is a tremendous opportunity to be named head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, and it’s a role I have been studying for over the course of my playing days,” said Kidd. “Championship teams are built on being prepared, playing unselfishly and being held accountable, and that’s how I expect to coach this basketball team. I am truly excited about this next phase of my basketball career.”

Prokhorov said the hiring completes a circle for the Nets great.

“Jason Kidd has a long and legendary history with the Nets and with the city of New York," said Prokhorov. "He has the fire in the belly we need, and has achieved as a player everything the Brooklyn Nets are striving to achieve. We believe he will lead us there. Welcome home, Jason.”

And the man in charge of the hiring, talked about what Kidd brings.

"I am very pleased to welcome Jason Kidd as the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets,” said King. “Jason is a proven winner and leader with an incredible wealth of basketball knowledge and experience. This will be a natural transition for him to move into the role of head coach, as he embodies the tough, smart and team-first mentality that we are trying to establish in Brooklyn."

The news comes a little more than a month after King began his search for P.J. Carlesimo's replacement. Along the way, there were boomlets for Doc Rivers, Jeff Van Gundy, Lionel Hollins, Brian Shaw, even Larry Brown. But ownership and management settled on Kidd in hopes he can create a unique culture for what they see as a "new team."